Rules of Poker: Texas Hold 'em

Texas hold 'em is the most popular variety of poker in the world.

Players are each dealt two cards face down, and another five cards are set on the table face up — these cards are common for all players. Players are building their five-card poker hands using both — cards they have been dealt and cards on the board.

The game goes through 4 betting rounds, each moving clockwise, starting from the dealer button, which travels one position to the left after each game. At online poker games a dealer button is used instead of real dealer.

If two or more players have the same hand, the pot gets split between these players. If there an odd chip left, it goes to the player whose cards are higher ranked. The cost of an odd chip at partypoker is 1 cent.

Blinds

At the very beginning of the game two players sitting to the left of the dealer put their blind, which is a type of bet, that players are forced to put, not even looking at their cards. It is done to provide the initial pot size in the beginning. The first player to the dealer's left puts a small blind, and the next one puts a big blind.

Preflop

After players are dealt their cards, player sitting to the left of the big blind starts the first betting round. He can call the bet, raise it or fold.

Call

Match the bet.

Raise

Make a higher bet.

Fold

Throw the cards and drop out from the game.

When betting returns to the player, who had put big blind, he can skip his turn or stay in game not adding chips to the pot.

If any player raises the bet, all other players have to call or reraise if they want to stay in game. Otherwise, they have to fold.

Player with a big blind can skip his betting turn and stay in game without making a bet. But if his opponent has raised the bet, the player has to make one of these actions: call, reraise or fold.

After all players have made their bets or folded, flop cards are dealt.

Flop

Flop is a name for the first three cards, dealt face up, and also a betting round after these cards have been laid on the board. In Texas hold 'em players can use cards on the board for building their five-card poker hands.

Turn

Turn is the fourth card, dealt face up, and the following betting round.

River

The last common card on the board and the last betting round.

Showdown

If more than one player left in game, players show their cards and the strongest hand wins. If two or more players have the same hands, they split the pot.

Look up the details of defining the winner hand in Texas hold 'em at «Texas hold 'em hand rankings»